https://www.ottawacommunitynews.com/...-in-barrhaven/
There's an empty expanse in the middle of Barrhaven the size of 15 rugby fields, and Claridge Homes sees townhouses, highrise condo buildings and parks in its future.
On March 23, the city’s planning committee will consider an application by Claridge to build 667 residential units, a small parkette and a larger park with a multi-use trail on the 15.5-hectare lot at 3370 Greenbank Rd.
The land lies along the west side of Greenbank Road, just north of Jock River, and is vacant except for a single abandoned farmhouse and some farm buildings in the southeast corner.
The builder has big plans for its transformation, but Barrhaven Coun. Jan Harder said it’s all par for the course in her growing ward.
“I think what they’re coming in with is very appropriate,” she said. “We don’t get a lot of complaints about growth in the suburbs.”
The proposal includes plans for 247 units in a mix of two- and three-storey townhomes, and 420 units in three mid- to highrise buildings in the southeast portion of the lot. They will be located on both sides of the future realigned Greenbank Road. One of the buildings could be 12-storeys tall, but Harder said she’s not concerned about that either.
“Minto has approval right now for the same kind of area to build higher than that,” Harder said. “We already have, in Barrhaven, approval for 16- to 18-storey buildings.”
Nevertheless, Claridge’s building application comes with a set of Official Plan and zoning bylaw amendment requests which seek to allow construction of the new subdivision.
“The Official Plan amendment would seek to increase the density in some areas,” said Don Herweyer, the city’s development review manager for the application, adding the change requested would "reflect the realigned Half Moon Bay Drive and make modifications to some cycling and sidewalk locations.”
A new roadway called Half Moon Bay Drive – not to be confused with Half Moon Bay Road on the south side of the Jock River – is also shown in the subdivision proposal, along with the realigned Greenbank and Jockvale roads.
Harder said Claridge’s vision for the new subdivision reflects how the city’s plan for Barrhaven has changed since 2006, when the Barrhaven south community design plan for Half Moon Bay and the South Nepean urban design plan were created.
“At the time we were looking at bringing in some very traditional Westboro-like components to Barrhaven,” Harder said.
“We have to realize that markets have changed. We’re not going to become a Westboro in the next decade, two or likely three. There’s been a lot of changes so it’s only natural that there would have to be some adjustments.”
According to the company’s building application, if the subdivision is approved, Claridge plans to build the subdivision in three phases, with the first phase – containing 177 townhouse units – complete by 2018 and the remaining two complete by 2020.
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